A Scrapbook Gardener

By:MomT, Keystone, IA

Counting the days till Spring when I can get back into my gardens, this is how I use to spend my Winters. I would look through my garden books, shop for new garden books and supplies. I would watch television about gardening. I would bug my husband about building on a room with lots of windows so I could have more house plants, so I could garden in the Winter. I would often sleep my weekends away. Having six boys means football, football, and more football. So after dinner off for a nap I would go. I often think I might have that depressive disorder that is caused from the lack of sun. To get me through the cold dreary Winter I constantly thought gardens, gardens gardens.

Then one Winter a friend and I found a magazine on scrapbooking. I was very fasinated and bought it. That was just the beginning of my buying, I bought rubberstamps, first of flowers, the others followed. I would drive forty five miles to shop for papers, pens, and more magazines.I started doing pages of our granddaughter. I did a few pages of my trip to Sweden and some pages of my grandmother. Then one evening we were looking at some pictures and our oldest son said, "why aren't there any baby pictures of me?", I said there are lots of baby pictures of you. All these years he thought all the baby pictures were of his brothers. So scrapbook number one was started. When I presented it to him he was amazed, that a biggest share of the pictures he often thought were his brothers were indeed of him. Shortly after our youngest son said I suppose I have to wait until I'm thirty to get my scrapbook. I hadn't realized he really liked what I was doing. I told him yes there are four boys and your sister ahead of you. But he graduated last June and received his scrapbook. He was delighted.

So scrapbooking has changed my life, especially the way I live my Winters. It has given me the same motivation towards life that my gardens give me in the summer. My youngest sister has even noticed it. She said "I thought you hated Winter" the other day. I said I use to but now I can "scrap" when I can't get out.

Tomorrow at dMarie Daily: How has scrapbooking changed your life?, by Cheryl Q.